Electric display sign



Jan. 12, 1960 T. B. MCGUIRE 2,920,408

ELECTRIC DISPLAY SIGN Filed Sept. 17, 1956 I31 ll III II"- 'll ll"- llloo 1111111? 111 11T' L11111i FIG. 5

INVENTOR THOMAS B MCGUIRE ATTORNEY ELECTRIC DISPLAY SIGN ApplicationSeptember 17, 1956, Serial No. 610,200

1 Claim. (Cl. 40-52) The invention relates to electric display signs andmore particularly to an electric display sign wherein the illuminatedsymbols may be changed with facility without resort to complexcircuitry.

Electric display signs wherein the illuminated symbols are periodicallychanged are relatively common. However, such signs normally requirecomplex circuitry and considerable programming in order to achieve thedesired degree of versatility and speed. The cost of such circuitry andprogramming is such that for many applications, signs of this typecannot compete, pricewise, with other display devices.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the instant invention toprovide an electric display sign wherein the illustrated symbols may bechanged rapidly with facility and economy.

For a greater appreciation of this and other objects.

of the invention, reference is made to the following specification andaccompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an electric display sign construced inaccordance with the instant invention; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of oneof the matrices of the sign illustrated in Fig. 1;

Unite States Patent 0.

t 2 ones of the conductors 11, and may be manually or automaticallyactuated. Specific circuitry applicable to the switching mechanism iswell known in the art, and requires no further elucidation since the,specific details of such circuitry form no part of the instantinvention.

When any of the conductors 11 are connected to the oscillator 8, an R.F.voltage will be applied thereto, and an R.F. field will surround theconductors. Such field will be relatively strong in those areas wherethe conductors are wrapped about the tubes 5 and relatively weak inother areas.

An inherent characteristic of a neon tube is to glow when subjected toan R.F. field of sufficient intensity. Accordingly, those tubes aboutwhich the hot conductors are wrapped will glow while the remaining tubeswill not. By wrapping each conductor 11 about selected tubes 5 as isindicated in Fig. 5, an intelligible glow pattern, in this case thedigit 2, can be obtained when an R.F. voltage is applied to theassociated conductor 11.

It should be obvious that as many conductors 11 as desired may beemployed in conjunction with each tube matrix, and that similarly, asmany'matrices as desired may be employed in any given display sign.Since each conductor 11 associated with any given matrix is wrapped Fig.3 is a bottom plan view of the matrix of Fig. 2; v

Fig. 4 is a view taken along line IV-IV of Fig. 2; and,

Fig. 5 is a view taken along line VV of Fig. 4.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 generallydesignates an electric display sign having three matrices 2, 3, and 4.It should be understood that although three matrices are indicatedherein for illustrative purposes, any number may be employed as desiredwithout departing from the'scope of the instant invention.

Each matrix comprises a plurality of neon tubes 5 arranged in rows andcolumns. As is herein illustrated, there are seven rows and fivecolumns, but it is understood that any number of either may be employedas appears to be best suited for the symbols to be illustrated. As isbest seen in Fig. 3, all of the tubes 5 are connected in parallel bymeans of bus bars 6 and 7. The bus bars 7 are in turn connected inparallel to R.F. oscillator 8 by means of conductors 9 in the mannerindicated in Fig. 1. The oscillator 8 may be of any of the suitabletypes well known in the art, and its exact details form no part of thepresent invention.

A plurality of laminations 10 composed of non-conductive material andhaving perforations therein of a size and spacing comparable to thetubes 5 are stacked thereupon as is indicated in Fig. 4. Conductors 11are interspersed between the laminations and are wrapped about selectedones of the tubes 5 for a purpose and in a manner to be hereinafterdescribed.

As is indicated in Fig. 1, the conductors 11 are all connected to aswitching mechanism 12 which is in turn connected to the R.F. oscillator8 by means of conductor 13. The switching mechanism is adapted toselectively electrically connect the oscillator 8 to desired about adifferent combination of tubes, the selective application of voltage tothe conductors associated with the various matrices will result in theachievement of any desired glow pattern. In Fig. 1 a glow patternindicating the numeral 293 is illustrated. Shifting the voltage to otherconductors would result in a pattern indicative of any other number,word or symbol, dependent solely upon the specific tubes about which theconductors are wrapped.

It may therefore be seen that by merely manipulating the switchingmechanism 12 so as to apply voltage selectively to the desiredconductors 11, any desired glow pattern may be achieved. Naturally one,or some, or all of the matrices available may be employed at any giventime, the number actually used being determined by the number of symbolsit is desired to flash simultaneously.

It should, be noted that in the illustrative embodiment hereindescribed, neon tubes have been utilized. However, any other meanshaving the characteristic of emitting light when subjected to an R.F.field may be employed in their stead without departing from the scope ofthis invention:

It may therefore be seen that by utilizing an electric display signconstructed in accordance with the instant invention, the desired numberof symbols may be flashed and changed rapidly and with facility.

Having disclosed an exemplary embodiment thereof, what I claim as myinvention is:

An electric display sign comprising, a plurality of matrices, aplurality of illuminating means within each matrix, at least some ofsaid illuminating means having the characteristic of emitting light whensubjected to an R.F. field, means for generating an R.F. voltage, aplurality of conductors operatively associated with the generatingmeans, each of said conductors being additionally associated withselected ones of the illuminating means within one of said matrices, theselected ones of the illuminating means associated with each conductorbeing so spaced with respect to one another so as to simulate a specificsymbol, and further means interposed between the generating means andthe conductors for selectively controlling the application of R.F.voltage to the conductors, the application of R.F. voltage to aconductor resulting in the emission of light by the associatedilluminating means so as to form a visual simulation within thecorresponding matrix of the related symbol, the concurrent applicationof voltage to one conductor associated with each matrix thereofresulting in the Patented Jan, 12,

eeneurrent visual simulation 'of the related symbols by the illuminatingmeans within the respective matrices.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1Bowers July 2, 1935 Diebel Mar. 12, 1940 Fodor July 9, 1940 Fuller Jan.18, 1949 Farris Jan. 18, 1949 Browner Nov. 15, 1949 Williams et a1 Mar.30, 1954 Stegner Dec. 27, 1955 Marcy Nov. 13, 1956

